Consumers, on average, make purchases at three retail stores per week and have little time for shopping elsewhere. The various retail stores at which consumers make purchases include outlet stores, shopping centers, hardware stores, grocery stores, drug stores, clothing stores and shoe stores. Consumers often identify items they wish to purchase while going about their daily routines rather than when they are shopping. Thus, when a consumer encounters items which he wishes to purchase, it is often inconvenient and/or impossible to search for, much less purchase, these items. Without the ability to purchase these items at the time the consumer is motivated to make the purchase, these purchases are unlikely. Therefore, it would be advantageous for merchants and advertisers to make a sale at the exact time their product is shown or advertised to the consumer. Consumers, on the other hand, desire to make purchases with minimal effort, time and dollars.
In addition to the disadvantages listed above, Nielsen, consumer groups, advertisers and marketers require a faster and more precise method of obtaining accurate measurements to quantify and qualify purchases and buyer demographics; retailers desire immediate transactions and order fulfillment to reduce inventory and hasten consumer purchasing (check out) processes; and buyers desire having immediate access to information concerning their financial accounts.